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"I’et on the coela and squeezed her hand, and Jake knew that her assignment was to discover what she felt about the house

Frazier walked over to Ashley She stood quickly, hugging hied her silently in return "I’ized to the others

"I’ll be in ood to hed "Oh, my God, after that delicious lunch you prepared! I’ to…search the house Combine a little ith exercise"

"Search for what?" Ashley asked her

"Evidence," she said softly

Ashley shook her head "But that won’t help us Every man had access to the house at some point What evidence could we possibly find that would be evidence? And the cops have been here, too"

"I never really knohat I’ood to walk around and think and look, and then you so for If that makes sense"

"I’ll be in the study," he assured her "If you need me"

Beth and Frazier headed for the stairway, arered until she was alone with Jake "Cliff didn’t do this," she said with finality

He walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders "Ashley, honestly? I don’t think that Cliff did it, either But it’s not going to hurt to be careful, to be with soht?"

"I can be careful," she ently so that she ain "Hey," he told her huskily "Remember e first decided anted a rock band and we set up out in the stables? The poor horses! Cliff never said anything He just moved the drum set into the front yard and told us that birds liked music more than horses--especially heavy metal"

She smiled "My father let us move the drum set into the old smokehouse" Her smile faltered "Jake, my father has never come back frory with hi to escape him

"I never ed to hurt myself," she murmured "You…scared me You really, really scaredat him "But you should know My father isn’t here"

She flushed as if she had said more than she had o to ital reality for me," he told her and headed off into the study while she walked toward the stairs

The subtle, alered, and he had to force himself not call out her name, not to draw her back to hi to lessen his feelings for her

He wanted to hold her; he wanted the truth He wanted to o away And, that, of course, was impossible

They could do their best to find the killer That hat he could do for her, he thought

But when he sat behind the desk in the study, he didn’t turn to the co the space around hial, I saw you You knew so You wanted me here Please, won’t you come and helpa flush on her cheeks Well, she was a fool She’d turned away fro him from her life as if she had done so with a sharpened blade What was she expecting now, and what the hell had she been doing, throwing herself at him just because she was scared?

"Well, I a to nip in the bud the fact that she was talking out loud to herself far too frequently now

She threw herself down on her bed and closed her eyes She didn’t see hi at all, but she knew that Marshall Donegal was there

"You have to go away," she said "You were trying to make me look like an idiot in the study, and I was a nervous wreck all through lunch, thinking you’dstupid If you’reht He had taken a seat at the foot of the bed She opened her eyes at last